JPH1021017A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a print system to be controlled even by a control command from a host computer, by providing an interface, which is capable of two-way communications, and a control means which can control a print system based on the control command received from the host computer through the interface. SOLUTION: An interface 23 is the parallel interface or 8 bits, for example, and capable of two-way communications with a host computer. Besides, the interface 23 has a function capable of the reception of control command excepting for the command of ordinary printing, etc., and can receive both the command of printing, etc., and the control command transmitted from the host computer. Then, the operating conditions of a serial printer are confirmed on the side of the host computer and the control command is transmitted corresponding to the conditions so that the function of the serial printer can be suitably controlled from the side of the host computer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing an image on a printing medium such as printing paper based on print information from a host computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printing apparatus of this type, for example, a serial printing apparatus has a power ON / OFF,
When an attempt is made to control the functions of the apparatus main body such as switching of N LINE / OFF LINE and supply / discharge of paper as a print medium, as shown in FIG. The control panel 3 for controlling the main body function is directly connected, and the main body function is controlled by manual key input from the control panel 3.

Reference numeral 4 denotes an interface board which has a function of receiving only print data such as prints transmitted from the host computer 5 through the interface 6.

[0004]

It is essential that such a conventional printing apparatus is provided with a control panel 3. Further, when operating the printing apparatus,
The user at the installation location of the host computer 5 had to move to the location of the printing apparatus because there was no choice but to manually input the key from the control panel 3.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus which can be controlled by a control command from a host computer.

[0006]

A printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing an image on a print medium based on print data received from a host computer. And a control unit capable of controlling the printing apparatus based on a control command received from the host computer through the interface.

In the present invention, a control command from the host computer is used in place of manual input from the control panel of the printing apparatus by using an interface capable of receiving a control command from the host computer and capable of bidirectional communication. , The function of the printing apparatus can be controlled.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a main part of an ink jet printing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

In FIG. 3, the print head 11 has, for example, 64 ink discharge ports (not shown) on the surface facing the recording paper 17 as a print medium in the transport direction of the recording paper 17. Further, the print head 11 has an ink path (not shown) communicating with each of these 64 ejection ports.
Are provided, and an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy for ink ejection is formed on a substrate constituting the print head 11 corresponding to each ink path. The electrothermal transducer generates heat by an electric pulse applied in accordance with the drive data, thereby causing film boiling in the ink, and discharging the ink from the above-described discharge port with the generation of bubbles due to the film boiling. Let it. Each ink path is provided with a common liquid chamber commonly communicating with the ink paths, and the ink stored in the common liquid chambers is discharged according to the ejection operation from each ink path.
The ink is supplied to the ink path.

A carriage 12 on which the print head 11 can be mounted is slidably engaged with a pair of guide rails 3 extending in parallel with the recording surface of the recording paper 77. Can move along. Along with this movement, ink is ejected from the print head 11 toward the recording surface at a predetermined timing to perform recording for one scan. afterwards,
The recording paper 17 is conveyed by a predetermined amount in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the above movement is performed again to perform recording for the next one scan. By repeating such an operation, recording is sequentially performed on the recording paper 17.

The recording paper 17 is conveyed by a pair of conveying rollers 14 and 1 disposed respectively above and below the recording surface.
5 is performed by rotation. Also, the recording paper 17
A platen 16 for maintaining the flatness of the recording surface is provided on the back side of the recording surface.

The movement of the carriage 12 described above is
For example, a belt (not shown) attached thereto is driven by a motor, and the rotation of the transport rollers 14 and 15 is enabled by the rotation of the motor being transmitted thereto.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the ink jet printing apparatus shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, a CPU 100 executes control processing, data processing, and the like for each section of the apparatus. ROM10
0A stores these processing procedures and the like,
100B is used as a work area for executing those processes.

Ink is ejected from the print head 11 by the CPU 100 supplying drive data and a drive control signal for the electrothermal transducer to the head driver 11A. In addition, the CPU 100 communicates with the host computer 24 via the interface 23 as described later.
Receive print data from. CPU 100
Controls the carriage motor 20 for moving the carriage 12 via the motor driver 20A, and controls the transport rollers 14, 1 via the motor driver 50A.
5 controls a paper feed (PF) motor 50 for rotating the motor 5.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main part of the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 20 denotes a serial printing apparatus according to the present invention;
Is an interface board, and 23 is an interface on the interface board 22 for connecting the host computer 24 and the serial printing apparatus 21.

This interface 23 is, for example, 8
It is a parallel interface of bits and has a unique specification in which two signal lines, a CD signal line and an RD signal line, are added to a signal line conforming to the Centronics standard, and a bidirectional communication between the interface 23 and the host computer 24 is performed. Communication is possible. The communication method between the host computer 24 and the interface 23 is a conventional Centronics standard BUSY signal line and STROBE.
In addition to data transfer using signal lines, CD signal lines, RD
By adding two signal lines, bidirectional communication is possible. That is, when data is being transferred from the host computer 24 to the interface 23, the CD signal line is turned on and the RD signal line is turned off.
When returning data to the 4 side, set the CD signal line to OF
By turning on the F and RD signal lines, the data transmission direction is defined, and bidirectional data transmission / reception between the host computer 24 and the interface 23 is enabled.

As described above, the interface 23 uses the CD signal line and the RD signal line as signal lines conforming to the Centronics standard.
Since bidirectional communication is performed between the interface 23 and the host computer 24 because the signal line is a proprietary interface to which two signal lines are added, the parallel interface of the host computer 24 uses the added CD signal line, RD The specifications must be compatible with the control of signal lines.

The interface 23 has a function of receiving a control command other than a command such as a normal print command, and can receive both a command such as a print command and a control command transmitted from the host computer 24. Further, since the interface 23 is capable of bidirectional communication, when a command requesting the status of the operation status of the serial printing device 20 is transmitted from the host computer 24, the command is received by the serial printing device 20 side. Thus, the operation status can be transmitted to the host computer 24 as a return status for the command.

As described above, the host computer 24 confirms the operation status of the serial printing device 20 and transmits a control command according to the status, thereby appropriately controlling the function of the serial printing device 20 from the host computer 24 side. It becomes possible.

As described above, the printing apparatus 20 of the present embodiment
When compared with the conventional serial printing apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 described above, instead of the interface 6 that can receive only print data such as printing in the printing apparatus 1,
An interface 23 capable of receiving control commands is also provided, and the main body control board 21 is changed so that control commands received through the interface board 22 can be processed in the same manner as when received from the control panel 3 of FIG. As a result, the control of the serial printing apparatus conventionally performed by the control panel 3 can be executed from the host computer 24. As described above, if the control performed by the control panel 3 in FIG. 1 can be performed by the control command from the host computer 24, the control panel 3 becomes unnecessary, and the serial printing apparatus without the control panel becomes unnecessary. Configuration is also possible.

(Others) The present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter, a laser beam, or the like) for generating thermal energy as energy used for discharging ink, particularly in an ink jet recording system. An excellent effect is obtained in a print head (hereinafter, also referred to as a "recording head") and a printing apparatus (hereinafter, also referred to as a "recording apparatus") of a type in which the state of ink is changed by the thermal energy. This is because according to such a method, it is possible to achieve higher density and higher definition of recording.

For the typical configuration and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
Although it can be applied to any type of continuous type, in particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to a sheet holding liquid (ink) or an electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis.
This is effective because air bubbles inside can be formed. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat.
A configuration using the specification of Japanese Patent No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration is based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration corresponding to a discharge unit. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be reliably and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium on which a recording apparatus can record. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads, or a configuration as one integrally formed recording head.

In addition, even in the case of the serial type as described above, the recording head fixed to the apparatus main body or the electric connection to the apparatus main body or the ink from the apparatus main body is attached to the apparatus main body by being attached to the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip-type recording head that can be supplied or a cartridge-type recording head in which an ink tank is provided integrally with the recording head itself is used.

It is preferable to add a discharge recovery means for the print head, a preliminary auxiliary means, and the like as the structure of the printing apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, the recording head is heated using capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer, another heating element or a combination thereof. Pre-heating means for performing the pre-heating and pre-discharging means for performing the discharging other than the recording can be used.

The type and number of recording heads to be mounted are not limited to those provided only for one color ink, for example, and for a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities. A plurality may be provided. That is, for example, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to a printing mode of only a mainstream color such as black, but may be any of integrally forming a printing head or a combination of a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of the recording modes of full color by color mixture.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid.
An ink that solidifies at room temperature or below and softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used, or the ink jet method controls the viscosity of the ink by adjusting the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C to 70 ° C. Is generally controlled so as to be within the stable ejection range, so that the ink may be in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied. In addition, in order to positively prevent temperature rise due to thermal energy by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to prevent evaporation of the ink, the ink is solidified in a standing state and heated. May be used. In any case, the application of heat energy causes the ink to be liquefied by the application of the heat energy according to the recording signal and the liquid ink to be ejected, or to start solidifying when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention is also applicable to a case where an ink having a property of liquefying for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60
As described in JP-A-71260, a configuration may be adopted in which a liquid or solid substance is held in a concave portion or through hole of a porous sheet and opposed to an electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the embodiments of the present invention take the form of a copying machine combined with a reader or the like and a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function, in addition to those used as image output terminals of information processing equipment such as a computer. Or the like.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the printing apparatus is controlled based on the control command received from the host computer, the user at the installation location of the host computer moves to the printing apparatus main body side. If not, the printing apparatus can be controlled from the host computer side.

Also, since a printing apparatus having no control panel can be constructed and used, the entire apparatus can be reduced in size due to the absence of the control panel, and the development cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts. It becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional printing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a printing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 printing device 21 main body control board 22 interface board 23 interface 24 host computer

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus capable of printing an image on a print medium based on print data received from a host computer, comprising: an interface capable of bidirectional communication with the host computer; Control means for controlling the printing apparatus based on a control command received from a computer. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the interface has a signal line for managing a transmission direction with the host computer. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for transmitting operation status data of the printing apparatus when receiving a command requesting operation state data of the printing apparatus from the host computer through the interface. 3. The printing device according to 1 or 2. 4. The print head according to claim 1, further comprising means for using a print head to print an image on the print medium, and comprising means for relatively moving the print head and the print medium. The printing device according to the above. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a moving unit that moves the print head in a main scanning direction; and a unit that conveys the print medium in a sub-scanning direction substantially orthogonal to the main scanning direction. A printing device according to claim 1. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the print head is an inkjet head that discharges ink. 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the ink jet head has an electrothermal converter that causes film boiling of the ink to discharge the ink.